Improvement in apparatus foe obtaining the measures for ladies  deesses



@einen 'tstrs @anni @fitta Y IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING THEMEASURES TORLADIEWDRBSSBS. i l

SPECIFICATION.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, CURRAN E. MCDONALD, of the city ofIndianapolis,`county of Mari'omand State `oil Indianmhave invented a newand useful Instrument for more accurately Measuring and Fitting LadiesDresses, and other Garments; and I'do hereby declare the following Ytobe a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings and the` letters and gures of reference markenthereon.

The-invention consists in the construction and the mode of operation andapplication of said instrument. To enable others skilled in the art tomake and use my said invention, I` will proceed to describe its:construction and operation. i

Said instrument is to be made of brass,.German silver, or any othersuitable sheet metal.` A B and C D, of tig. 1 of the accompanyingdrawings, represent two graduated strips of sheet metal, `each from halfanA inch to threequarters of an inch Wide, and from `eight inches toeleven inches long, held together by the clasps represented by u u and ov, of fig. `1 and iig. 2 of'` the accompanying drawings, in such amanner that they will slip upon each other lengthwise. 'The end D of theupper slip C D is provided with a convenient index, to be` used inconnection with the graduated facel of A B, Whichsaid index isrepresented by I, of said iig. 1. `Each of the said graduated strips A Band C D is provided at one end with a suitable knob, which said knobsare,` respectively represented byE and G, of said tlg. 1. In thel spacebetween the two clasps 'u u and vv, aforesaid, is' a. sliding stage,represented by S, of the said iig. 1, and held to the instrument bysuitable clasps, represented by w and of the said iig. 2, so that itwill slide lengthwise on the said A B and C D. The said sliding stage Sis also provided with an index, represented by I', 4of said iig. 1, tobe used in connection `with the graduatedv face of C D. The said stage`Sy carries a knob, represented by Fjof said Iig. 1, in` all `respectssimilar tothe knobs E and G, aforesaid; all of which,wl1en in theirproper places, are as represented` by their respective letters in thesaid Iig. 1. V Said instrument is provided on the under side with twosuitable hooks, one at each end, as represented by hand K, of said iig,V2, for the purpose of securing it Whenit is being used, as hereinafterdescribed. In order to use'the said instrument, it lis so adjusted thatwhen the end C is laid on the back middle of the neck hem, the knob Gwill just reach the back middle of the waist seam; `and the knob F soadjusted that it will be about midway between the knob E andthe knob G,vas represented by ,C E F G, of iig; l3,

ofthe accompanying drawings the said instrument, being held rmly in itsplace by the hooks H and K, afore-` t said, being rmly fastened in thedress at E and G. The ring of an ordinary `'tape measure is then placedon the knob" E, and the distance to a, of said iig. 3, the top end ofthe shoulder seam,measured in the `direction of the dotted line E a. Thedistance to ZJ, the lower end of the shoulder seam, is next measured inthe direction of the dott-ed lineE b. Ihe distance toc, the back side ofthe arm-hole; is new measured in the directionof the dotted line E e.

The ring ofV the tape measure is nowv placed on the knob F, aforesaid,and the distances Fa, b, and F c successively measured. The distance tod, the top end of the side seam, is then measured in' the' direction ofthe dotted line F d, andthe distance to e, the bottom of the side sam,measured in the direction of the dotted line F e. The ring of the saidtape measure is now placed on the knob G, and the distances G oZ-and G esnccess-` ively measured. This gives the measure of one side of the backof the form to be iitted. If the form bewell proportioned no othermeasure is necessary to t the back; but if vthe form be crooked ormisshapen, the` other side must be measured in the same manner. Theoperator having now noted the position of the tivo indices, I and I',and 'the various measures aforesaid, proceeds to transfer them to thecloth. In drder to accomplish this, the indices Il and I must be placedin the same position whichthey occupied when the measure was taken. Theinstrument is then laid on the cloth, as represented by C E F G, of fig.4, of the accompanying drawings. The ring of the tape measure,aforesaid, is then placed on the knob E, and the distance E a,aforesaid, taken up on the tape measure. With that distance for aradius, a small arc4 of a circle is described, as represented by f j',of said hg. 4. The ring of the tape measure is then placed on the knobF, and taking`F .a,` aforesaid, as a radius, another arc of a circle,represented by g g, is described, s oas to intersect the arc ff;

then the point of intersection will be the original point a, the upperend of the shoulder seam. In the same Way b, the lower end of theshoulder seam, may be found by describing the 'intersecting arcs'Z l andmmwith E b and F b, for their respective radii, the point ofintersection being the original point b; c, the back side of thearm-hole, is found by using E c and F c for the radii of theintersecting arcs n 'n and o o, respectively. For d, the top end of theside seam Fcl and G dare used for the radii of the intersecting arcs p pandra', respectively. Lastly, e, the lovverl end of the side seam, isfonndbyusing F e and G e for the radii of the intersecting arcs s s andtt,

respectively. The centre of the end, C, of the instrument will be theback middle of the neck hem, and the, centre of the knob Gr the backmiddle of the waist seam. With all these points established,respectively, it only remains to trace the figure C a Z c d e Gr C,which will be the true outline of one-half of the back of the intendedgarment. The other half of the back mziy be leid out in the same wey.The-front is measured and laid off in the same Way, except that, in thedistance G e, proper allowance is made for the darts or gores, as

represented by G c e2, of fig. 5, of the accompanying drawings, so thatwhen the said darts or gores have been properly arranged, the distanceGr e will be as originally measured.

What I claim, :rnd desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The within-described instrument, when the same is constructed esaforesaid, in` its said several parts, and operated for the purpose andin the manner substantially :its set forth.

CURRAN E. McD ONALD.

Witnesses:

I. S. BiGELoW, JOHN C. SPooNER.

